Overwatch 2 Stadium Summer Roadmap Revealed by Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment has recently revealed the exciting Overwatch 2 Stadium roadmap for 2025, detailing the heroes and features slated for Season 17, Season 18, Season 19, and beyond. This announcement comes alongside a comprehensive Director's Take blog post by game director Aaron Keller, providing insights into the past, present, and future of this new mode, which has been available for just over a week.

The Stadium mode is set to expand with the introduction of the new Damage hero, Freja, in a mid-season patch for Season 16. However, it's in Season 17, launching in June, where the mode truly escalates. Players will welcome Junkrat, Sigma, and Zenyatta to the roster, accompanied by the new Esperança Push map and Samoa Control map. Blizzard plans to enhance the Stadium experience further by introducing Unranked Crossplay, new all-star rewards, custom games, additional example builds, and the ability to save and share builds. Although it's not specified whether all these additions will be available at the start of Season 17 or rolled out throughout the season, the anticipation is palpable.

Season 18 will see the arrival of the beloved gorilla hero, Winston, along with Sojourn and Brigitte. The Route 66 and London maps will also be added, alongside a new Payload Race game mode featuring two new maps. A Stadium trials feature and the option to Endorse teammates will further enrich the gameplay experience.

Looking ahead to Season 19 and beyond, Blizzard promises multiple new heroes, including both familiar faces from the existing Overwatch 2 roster and entirely new characters. A new China map, a Draft Mode feature, consumables, and item system tweaks are also on the horizon, promising continuous evolution and excitement for Stadium players.

Overwatch 2 Stadium summer 2025 roadmap. Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.

How has Stadium Performed so Far?

The Overwatch 2 team has shared impressive performance statistics for Stadium, which has quickly become the most played mode in the game. During its launch week, Stadium saw 2.3 million matches played across 7.8 million hours, surpassing both Quick Play and Competitive modes. This represents more than double the engagement seen during the launch week of Overwatch Classic. Notable statistics also highlight Lucio as the hero with the highest win rate and the lowest pick rate, while players have collectively spent 900 billion Stadium Cash and chosen 206 million items for their builds.

In his Director's Take, Aaron Keller provided clarity on Stadium's development, confirming that the mode was in the works before Overwatch 2's launch. This dispels any notions that Stadium was created in response to the December 2024 release of Marvel Rivals. Keller assured fans that Blizzard will continue to communicate openly about Stadium, with more insights to be shared next week.

Keller also emphasized Blizzard's dedication to maintaining the core experiences of Overwatch, such as Quick Play and Competitive, alongside the new Stadium mode. He stated, "We’re still pouring as much time, energy, and passion into these as we always have. Stadium isn't competing for those resources: it’s giving us more opportunities to deliver Overwatch in a new, exciting way." He teased that Season 18 is set to be particularly exciting, encouraging players to enjoy Stadium and contribute to making the game great.

Stadium was introduced with the launch of Season 16 last week, as part of Blizzard's efforts to revitalize its player base. This initiative began with an all-encompassing Spotlight presentation in February, leading to the return of loot boxes and an improved Steam rating, which many players consider to be the best Overwatch experience in years.

As we await further updates, you can explore our guide to learn more about how Stadium works and check out our recommendations for the best Tank Builds, DPS Builds, and Support Builds.